The Trick To Slicing Hard Cheese Cleanly

Nowadays, charcuterie boards are more decoration than they are food. Displaying salami shaped like a blooming flower and slices of gruyère laid like a perfectly toppled rack of dominoes, most of the fun is in the creation, and less the consumption. Which is why many people are skipping the Costco charcuterie platter in favor of something they put together themselves. For an aesthetically pleasing cheeseboard, every detail matters, and slicing hard cheese in a neat way will ensure clean, straight lines.

To neatly and effectively slice hard cheese, Chef Matt Baker of 101 Hospitality (Gravitas, Michele's, Bakers Daughter, and the forthcoming Lucille's at Kimpton The George) suggests dipping your knife in hot water and quickly drying it off before slicing it through the cheese. The warmed knife will melt the cheese slightly as it passes through, easing a clean glide through the entire cut.

Though the trick may seem tedious, a warmed knife will remain at a good temperature for a few minutes, so you only need to dip it in hot water again between every few slices. 

Believe it or not, the way you cut cheese matters. For example, the way you cut a block of cheese affects its flavor. It is best to cut hard cheeses in long, thin slices to maximize the surface area of the cheese. When grabbed off of a charcuterie or cheese board, eaters can place long slices of a firm cheese along their tongue, giving them a better chance at tasting the intricacies of the flavor.

To make sure the width of each slice is equal, use a fork to imprint equal increments into a block of cheese. Each prong will demarcate where to cut the cheese, so the fork imprints can be used as a guide for your knife. This trick, in conjunction with the warm knife method, will result in clean cuts with equal widths. With perfect slices of cheese, play around with different ways to lay them on your charcuterie board. Surround the meat with a circle of various types of cheese or snake the cheese around the meat for a more dynamic look.